KEY SCRIPTURE: Jas 2:24 KJV “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

At the commencement of the new year, lots and lots of good wishes for a good and prosperous new year will be flying through the airwaves to family and friends. It is a very good thing to wish one another well and even wishes the best for yourself. Please note that no year brings anything on its own, rather it is the changed attitudes and actions that result in a changed lifestyle. It is said that it is insane to do the same things and expect different results. Change or improvement in anything is always a result of a positive change in one’s action. In Genesis 26, there was a very serious famine in the land. The Lord encountered Isaac and asked him not to go down to Egypt, but said the following to him:

Gen 26:3 KJV ” Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;”

  Isaac’s success or failure depended on his obedience to the instruction of the Spirit of God. Dear brother or sister your improvement in whatever endeavour depends on your obedience to the instruction of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, the Holy Spirit is our senior partner. He is our helper, guide, guard, and Counsellor advocate. It is in doing the instruction of the Spirit that brings about a change in the state of that individual Isaac was very obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Gen 26:12 KJV” Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.”

We can say that, for that year, Isaac was greatly blessed. He reaped a hundred percent of what he sowed. You can have a glorious year by doing what the Holy Spirit would teach you. The Spirit of God is ready to instruct you on a specific task as a Christian. Make sure you execute it with all seriousness.

CONFESSION

Thank God for blessing me with a new year. I receive the counsel of His Spirit concerning my path for this new year. I live with a determination to bring glory to the name of my heavenly father. Thank you, Lord.

THOUGHT: MAKE A GOOD YEAR BY MAKING A POSITIVE CHANGE IN WHAT YOU DO

FURTHER STUDIES

Jas 1:21,22, &25 KJV “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.